Wreckless Love
by aTops1190
Summary: HIATUS! SORRY! A relaxing trip to Mexico was just what she needed. What will she do when things don't go according to plan and she ends up falling for the boy who saved her. A boy she can't stand. Naley
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own a beat up Pontiac Bonneville, an old school iPod, and 10 box sets of my favorite television shows. Sadly, these things are not One Tree Hill. If I owned that… I would be to busy with my husband James Lafferty to even consider writing fanfiction.**

**A/N: hm, I'm usually not very good at disclaimers… I like mine though. Almost as much as I like james lafferty. Yummy! Okay, so a new fic… if you read the 2 chapters of my last fic that I dropped… I apologize but promise this one is working out better for me. **

**Just to let you know what's going on in my mind:**

**Basically, Haley, Jake, and Lucas grew up in Tree Hill, North Carolina together while Brooke, Peyton, and Nathan grew up in Greenville, South Carolina. Both Scott brother knew about each other but had never met until they had both been offered full ride scholarships to Duke. Haley had also gotten an academic there and met Brooke, her new roommate. **

**Peyton and Jake were both going to The University of Alabama and met when they had agreed to help their friends move into their apartments on campus before having to move. They'd connected instantly and after a quickly developing friendship, they started dating. **

**Other than that… you'll just have to read and find out. Any questions? Ask 'em. I forget that I know what's going on and you do not. Read, review… mostly, enjoy!**

**[phew, that was a long one!**

The line up to check luggage seemed to go on for miles. It was as if every student at Duke was trying to catch a plane to take them to anywhere but there. Haley James groaned loudly, praying that none of them would be going to the same resort in Mexico as she was, though that was highly unlikely considering it was well known for having the best and most wild spring break parties. The place didn't exactly scream 'Haley', but she figured it would have been rude to decline the plane ticket Brooke had bought for her for Christmas. If worst came to worst, she'd spend some time with Lucas in the mornings while Brooke would be sleeping off a hang over, and then spend the rest of the day catching up on some reading while working on her tan.

Checking her watch, she sighed as she realized that they line had hardly moved in the last twenty minutes. "This is ridiculous!" she fumed, folding her arms across her chest as she sat down on her suitcase. "We've been waiting in this line forever and now we're probably going to miss our flight because _someone_ slept in and wasn't ready to go," she added, giving Brooke a nasty look.

"For the hundred and seventeenth time, I'm sorry!" Brooke snapped back, throwing her hands in the air. "Lucas, please talk to her. I'm going to the washroom."

Haley rolled her eyes as she watched her roommate walk away from the line. That was very like Brooke; to be the reason for something bad happening and then skipping out on the consequences that followed. Haley loved her roommate, she really did, but sometimes Brooke was just so… Brooke.

"You wouldn't love her if she was any other way," her best friend, Lucas reminded her as he put his arm around her shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "Try to relax and enjoy the trip."

Haley sighed as she stood from her spot on her luggage and gave Lucas a tight hug. Leave it to him to make her feel bad for wanting to strangle her roommate. That was just Lucas. They had been best friends since her family moved to Tree Hill when she was five. He'd been able to read her, even back then.

"Thanks," she whispered.

"Who knew my big brother had game."

Now it was Lucas' turn to groan and roll his eyes. Nathan Scott was many things; Duke's leading scorer, the most notorious player on campus, Lucas' half brother, and a complete ass. He and Lucas had grown up in different states and had been raised by parents with different views on how to parent. It had made a world of difference because besides blood, a mutual hatred, and the last name Scott, the two brothers were complete opposites.

"Well, well… if it isn't the ass-hole Scott," Haley spat at him with a sarcastic grin. She disliked the guy almost as much as Lucas. It wasn't just because he thought he was better than Lucas and treated him like crap. By principle, Haley just disliked anyone who was overly self-righteous and conceded. A lot of girls caved into his good looks and charming smile, but not Haley. She was really good at telling when someone was being fake and when they were being themselves. She'd always wondered what the real Nathan Scott was like, because she'd only ever known the fake one.

"Funny," he replied dryly before turning his attention back to Lucas. "You always let your girlfriend fight your battles? Or just when you know you can't win."

Lucas' fingers curled at his sides, forming fists that were more than ready to kick his younger brother's ass. He was usually a pretty levelheaded guy but when it came to Nathan, it was a different story. To Lucas, Nathan was a constant, nagging reminder of his father, Dan, and how he'd left Lucas' mother, who was, at the time, pregnant with him, for a scholarship at UNC and a skinny blonde named Deb. Finally, snapping back to reality, he unclenched his fist and shook his head, turned away from Nathan and filled the gap that had grown between him and the person ahead of them in the line up. Nathan Scott wasn't worth it.

"You defiantly are an ass," Haley hissed harshly at him as she pulled Brooke and her own suitcase away from Nathan and towards Lucas.

"Hannah, I know you want me…" Nathan called out as Haley walked away from him.

Guys like Nathan Scott not only pissed her off, but they totally grossed her out. Growing up with Lucas and the boys from the River Court, she'd gotten used to guys who weren't pigs and always talking about sex. She'd grown up to believe that guys were gentlemen. Then she went to Duke, met Nathan, and lost most of her faith in mankind.

Brooke returned from the washroom and groaned inwardly when she saw that Nathan and his group of idiot friends were in line behind them. Of the three of them, Brooke knew Nathan better than the rest. They had grown up in the same town, gone to high school together, and had even dated at one point. Brooke had said she should have been declared temporarily insane during those two and a half months, because although Brooke was friendly with all types of guys, pig-headed jerks had never been her type. Now, she was dating Lucas and was positive she'd found the better of the Scott brothers.

As she approached Luke and Haley, she could feel the tension increasing but she knew better than to mention anything. They waited in silence for a period of time that felt like forever, but finally they had checked their baggage, gone through security and were waiting patiently to board the plane.

The tension that had once lingered over the three friends had disappeared once they left the company of Nathan. They were joking around when Brooke suddenly let out a small, slightly shocked scream. "I almost forgot." She picked up the oversized purse she was taking on the plane with her and pulled out a regular sized gift box. "Its your Christmas present," she explained as she handed the box to Haley.

"Brooke, the plane ticket to Mexico was my Christmas present," Haley countered. While Brooke had never had to worry about money growing up, Haley had been told time after time that a new winter jacket every year, or the guitar she'd desperately wanted, or the chance to go out for supper on her birthday wasn't part of the budget. She had taken out loans and was working part time just to pay for rent so that she could be at Duke. So while money wasn't a thing for Brooke, Haley hated thinking that her friend had spent way more than necessary on her Christmas gift.

"Okay, well I have a confession to make," Brooke began as she turned and faced Haley head on. "You know the tournament the basketball team won at the beginning of December?" Haley nodded. She'd booked that Sunday afternoon off work to drive to New York to watch Lucas play. "Okay, and you know how I told you that the cheerleading squad won the competition that weekend also?" Haley nodded again. This story was going nowhere. "Okay, well don't be mad… but in addition to the gorgeous trophies and the cash donations to go to new uniforms, we kind of… all got two free tickets to Mexico for spring break. So I really didn't buy you the ticket but I figured you wouldn't come if you knew that I hadn't spent any money on it."

"I…" she mumbled but cut herself off. Brooke was right. She wouldn't have come if she knew it was a free ticket. It was almost creepy and scary how much her roommate had learnt about her in less than a year. She looked around the room where they were waiting to board and noticed that most of Lucas' team mates and the girls from Brooks squad were sitting around them. _How did I not notice this before?_ she questioned herself. She usually wasn't one to let things like that pass by her.

"You can't be mad, I told you not to be," Brooke reminded her. "We just thought it would be fun. We can all be together and relax and party and have a really good time before classes start again."

"You knew about this and didn't tell me?" Haley asked Lucas, amazed.

"Well, yeah… I mean I had free tickets too. Haley you know we would never make you do something that could ruin what you've got going for you at Duke… You won't fall behind in school and you've already paid next months rent."

"We arranged to get an extra ticket, so Peyton and Jake are meeting us there. Its going to be so much fun Haley!" Brooke said with a smile. "Please say you'll still come."

Truthfully, she had been looking forward to the trip. Growing up, her parents didn't have the money to take them to places like Mexico. Family vacations had consisted of piling into the RV with her five older siblings and going to visit their grandparents in California. On top of that, she was really bogged down with her tuff classes this semester and trying to work at the same time. She had been excited to just get away for a while with her friends… even if it did mean going to parties with Brooke and pretending to have fun. The days would be relaxing and that was just what she needed; a nice relaxing week in Mexico with her very best friends.

"Fine," she replied. "I waited in those ridiculously long lines and my luggage is already on the plane… it would be stupid to turn around now, right?"

"That's the spirit!" Brooke cheered as she clapped her hands quietly. "Now, open your present." Haley did as she was told and started to open the gift box. She scoffed when she pulled the tiny, two-piece bathing suit from the box. "Bet you didn't pack one of those," Brooke said of the tiny red bikini in Haley's hands.

"This thing won't even cover my ass!" Haley exclaimed as she stretched the bottom of the bathing suit out. "Brooke I can't wear this!"

"You can and you will! You've got a totally rock hard body Tutor Girl and red is so your color, trust me." Haley was about to object when a boarding call for their flight came over the sound system in the building. "No time to argue now! Throw it in your bag and lets get going!"

Haley opened her carry on bag and threw the bathing suit in amongst her other things. Together, the three friends got in yet another line and waited to hand their tickets to the flight attendant and board the plane. Haley again looked at all the people around her… generally she liked all the girls on Brookes squad, with the exception of a bitchy red-head named Rachel, but she figured she could find many things to keep herself from bumping into her. As for the Lucas' teammates… the only guys she couldn't stand being around was Na--. "You guys if the whole team won tickets doesn't that mean that Nathan is going—"

"Hannah!" She cringed as she heard him shout from behind her. Walking up behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. "Meet me in the bathroom ten minutes after take off and I'll give you orientation for the Mile High Club," he said, just loud enough for her, Lucas and Brooke to hear.

He walked away laughing, happy with the reaction he'd gotten out of the three of them. _So much for a nice and relaxing weekend_, Haley thought as she handed the flight attendant her ticket and boarded the plane.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, here's the 2****nd**** chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, they are all awesome. I didn't really think too much about the Mile High comment… but apparently it was a hit! **

**I should probably say that I stopped breathing for a second when I saw that Bindy417 was reading my story. I think I've read all of hers. Haha. **

**So the chapter is pretty light… a little Naley at the end for you all. Read, review, but also… enjoy!**

Not even twelve hours in Mexico and Haley was well on her way to being tanked.

She wasn't normally a drinker. In fact, she'd never had more than two glasses of wine in one evening. However, she'd always said that if circumstances arose that drove her to drink… then she was sure as hell going to drink. Nathan Scott sitting next to her on a flight from North Carolina to Mexico was, in her mind, defiantly a circumstance worthy of drinking.

_When he sat in the seat next to her, she thought it was another sick joke he was playing on her or some sort of ploy to get a rise out of Lucas. "This is a 'no ass-hole' section," she said without looking at him. Paying no attention to her, he quietly attempted to get comfortable in his seat. Lucas and Brooke, who were sitting in the two seats ahead of them turned around, hearing Haley speak. Looking at them for help, she became frustrated when they both shrugged their shoulders, unsure of what to do. "Okay, seriously Scott… I'm trying to enjoy my vacation and I can't do that with you around me."_

_"Okay, seriously Hannah," he'd began, mimicking her earlier words, "I fly all the time but taking off and landing are not my thing. I've got to concentrate very hard on _not_ getting sick and I'm just not going to be able to do that with your high pitched, annoying-as-hell voice in my ear. So please, just cool it." _

_Haley had laughed quietly to herself as she turned away from him. _Mr. Big Shot, Nathan Scott, couldn't stomach flying. _When the plane stared moving forward, he instantly grabbed the armrest and squeezed it tightly. Hearing him inhale sharply, Haley looked over at him and smirked, noticing his white knuckles matched the color of his face._

_As the plane taxied down the runway, Haley decided now, at Nathan's weakest moment would be the best time to get some type of revenge for all the pig-headed comments he'd made at her. Resting her hand gently on his shoulder, she leaned in close to him, letting her hot breath tickle his neck. "I'm feeling adventurous," she said softly, using every ounce of strength in her body not to laugh. Looking away from him, she turned slightly in her chair to look at the back of the plane where the washroom was, and nodded in that direction. "How about you give me that orientation right now?" _

_As Nathan's gaze shifted from her to the washroom at the back of the plane, she couldn't stifle her laughter any longer. Nathan groaned. "Screw you," he said quickly, leaning back and resting his head on the seat. _

_"I think now we both know, that it's _you_ who wants _me _Nathan Scott," she laughed as the plane started to rise off the ground. _

At the time, the prank had been classic but as soon as the plane had leveled out in the air; Haley was regretting it because Nathan was ready for pay back. She thought she'd heard every disgusting, arrogant and self-centered line in the books, but on that plane, Nathan wrote his own. By the time the pilot announced that they would soon be landing, Haley was too angry to even enjoy Nathan quivering in the seat next to her.

She had been pissed off, but now she was just drunk. She picking up the fresh drink the bartender had set down on the bar for her and took a sip. Each drink had started tasting better and better as she quickly got drunk enough to stop tasting the alcohol in them. She spun her bar stool around and smiled brightly when she saw Brooke, Lucas, Peyton and Jake walking off the crowded dance floor and over to her. "My bestest friends in the whole world! There you are!" she shouted drunkenly, as she hopped off the bar stool, careful not to spill her drink, and then proceeded to hug all of them

"Tutor Girl, you haven't even danced with us once yet tonight!" Brooke complained while Haley hugged her tightly around the neck.

Haley broke away and looked her roommate in the eyes. "That's because these," she began, pointing ant the Pina Colada in her hand, "has affected my control over these." She looked down and, one at a time, kicked each of her legs in the air.

"Haley, how much have you had to drink?" Peyton questioned as she wrapped Haley's arm around her neck and helped set her into a chair.

"Counting this one… six or seven," she answered honestly.

"Maybe we should get her back to her room?" Lucas suggested to the rest of the group. The other three nodded and quickly started to gather their things from the table where they'd left them.

"What?!" Haley screeched, standing up. Sure she wasn't much of a drinker but tonight the Pina Colada's were the only think keeping her from finding Nathan's room, breaking in and smothering him with his own pillow. "No, seriously… you guys I'm fine. Look, I can touch my nose and walk in a straight line and I can… I can dance. Brooke, Peyton… come on lest dance." Without waiting for a response, she grabbed both girls' hands and dragged them out to the crowded dance floor.

Lucas and Jake, who were never really big on dancing, stood at the sidelines for a few moments until they saw Haley bend over and empty the contents of her stomach onto the shoes of one of the other dancers. "Defiantly time to get her back to the room," Jake laughed as they stood and went over to the girls.

"I think it's time to go," Brooke said quickly to Lucas as she rubbed Haley's back. Lucas just nodded, wrapped one of Haley's arms around his shoulders and then lifted her off her feet.

"Just don't puke on me," Lucas warned, as they exited the club and started making their way across the resort, back to their hotel rooms.

By the time they had reached their hotel, 'funny-drunk-Haley' had become 'passed-out –drunk-Haley'. She was fading in and out of sleep on Lucas' shoulder. "You guys can go to your rooms," Lucas said to the rest of the group as they waited in the elevator to get to their floor. Peyton and Jake said their farewells and left in the direction of their room. Brooke was about to offer to come with him when he interrupted. "Go ahead. I'll make sure she's settled and I'll meet you in the room."

Brooke smiled and walked away in the direction of the room she was sharing with Lucas. Lucas walked down the hallway he had seen Haley come out of earlier, and quickly realized he didn't know which room was hers. "Okay Hales, what's your room number?"

"1-7-2… something," she mumbled softly.

"Great," Lucas muttered as he looked around. "Do you have your key?" Haley shook her head. "Great." He repeated. _What to do? What to do? _"Look Haley, we're going to have to walk back to the reception desk and find out what room your in and get you a new key. You okay with that?"

"No," she replied quickly, kicking her legs lightly so that Lucas would put her down. "All the walking is making me nauseous. Can you just go get it? I'll wait here for you." She crawled over to the wall, leaned up against it and closed her eyes, hoping the dizzy, spinning feeling she had would soon pass.

"Okay. Just stay here, okay?"

She nodded her head and waited until she could no longer hear Lucas' feet to open her eyes. Running her hand through her hair she instantly regretted the decision to drink so much that night. "Oh god," she mumbled as she felt another wave of nausea coming on. She stood up and pounded on the door of the room across from her. _Please let someone be here_, she thought.

A second later the door opened up and Haley pushed past the body in front of her, making a beeline for the bathroom. After puking once more in the toilet, she wiped her mouth with a piece of toilet paper and stood to walk out. Her head hung low, she exited the bathroom, ashamed to look at the owner. "Look I'm really sorry about that. I'm just… well a little bit drunk and I've locked myself out of my room."

"No problem," the owner of the room laughed. "You know, I never would have picture you to be a boozer. Who knew?"

Haley looked up, mortified. Nathan. Standing right in front of her in a pair of lounge pants, shirtless, hair sticking up in spots… shirtless. She couldn't help but look. Nathan was an ass, but he was a good-looking one. "I'm really not in the mood for your smart-ass comments right now, Scott."

"Then maybe you should stop checking me out and get out of my hotel room," he countered, opening the door for her. "That is, unless you want to stay…" Giving him a sarcastic smile, she walked right past him. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about your late night, drunken wanderings in my room." Just as she was about to turn around to snap back at him, the door to the room slammed closed in her face.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Wow! Thanks for all the reviews everyone! Seriously, it was like the episode where Brooke starts the website to sell her dresses and every time she refreshed the page, there were new orders. Every single time I checked my account there were new reviews. That's so awesome!

**Anyways… I'm glad everyone likes the Naley fighting. I had written two different ways this Chapter could go and decided this one would work better. I might use a part of the other one in a future chapter, we'll have to wait and see.**

**Now, I'm not going to lie to you, I have very little idea where this story is going so if anyone has anything they want the throw in, let me know… I'll see if it fits with what I have so far. **

**Again, thanks for reviewing. I'm usually more excited to sit at the computer and write when I know that there are people excited to read the next chapter! You guys are my inspiration. Thanks to everyone who said they were already hooked on the story… I kind of am too. **

**Alright, enough of me… its OTH time. Ha, okay I'm a dork! Whatever. You all love me. Read, review and ENJOY! **

-OTH-

_Oh God, I'm going to be so late_, Haley thought as she picked the quilt up from off her bed and shook it out, hoping and praying that the black clutch she'd been carrying with her the night before would fall to the ground. She hadn't brought much cash with her, and what she did, she had put in that purse, along with her bankcard and credit card… and now she couldn't find it. She knew she'd had it when leaving the club, because she could remember hitting Lucas in the head with it repeatedly. _Hey, you remembered something else! Good job Haley!_, she thought to herself. Events from the night before were a little hazy but, bit by bit, she was slowly starting to remember her drunken stupor. She'd never had so much to drink before in her life. Her head was still pounding but she was far more concerned with the situation at hand; trying to find her lost purse.

She started mentally retracing her steps from the night before; she'd gotten sick at the club, Lucas carried her back to the hotel, somehow she ended up alone in the hallway of the hotel, then she puke in Na-. _Crap!_ The purse was in Nathan's room; in his bathroom on the right side of his toilet to be exact. Groaning, she tucked her hotel key in her back pocket she walked down to his room. "Open up, ass-hat! You have my purse!' she shouted as she pounded her fist on the door.

Nathan opened the door slowly, poked his head out and laughed. She didn't have enough time or patience to deal with him right then. She was supposed to have met Luke, Brooke, Peyton and Jake for breakfast twenty-five minutes ago. Pushing on the door, she opened it wide enough to sneak by him and let herself into his washroom.

"Well this is a first. A girl breaks into my hotel room one night, I throw her out, and the next morning she's coming back for more," Nathan laughed as he watched Haley search through the washroom. "And you thought I was the one who wanted you."

"Where'd you put it, Nathan?"

"Put what?"

"My purse. My black, Chanel clutch purse," she explained quickly, as she brushed past him and moved into the main area of his hotel room. She started opening the drawers on the dresser and the nightstand; it was somewhere in his room. It had to be. "Again, I don't have time for your games so if you could just give it to me so I can go…"

"What's the magic word, Hannah?"

"Haley," she corrected him quickly.

"Pretty name, kind of hot actually. But no, that's not the word."

Haley sighed and rolled her eyes as she slammed the drawer she was looking through closed. "My name, is Haley… not Hannah," she explained, speaking slowly as if she was talking to a four year old instead of a college freshman.

"Oh."

"Yeah." She pulled the quilt off the bed and shook it like she had in her own room. Leave it to Nathan to ruin her day before noon. Sighing once again, she sat down on his bed and let her hands rest in her lap. "Okay, seriously… what do I have to do to you to get my purse back?"

He laughed and stroked his chin. "All the possibilities…" he mumbled.

"I won't sleep with you."

"You wouldn't sleep with anyone." She opened her mouth to object, but she couldn't. He walked over to the TV cabinet that she hadn't looked through, opened the doors and turned around holding her black purse in his hand. "Here."

Standing from her spot on the bed, she went and took the purse from his hands and opened it, checking to make sure all of her money was there. "That's it?" She'd never expected that Nathan would be the kind to just hand over something when he could use it for leverage.

"No," he said simply as he turned towards the washroom. He leaned up against the wall and turned back to face her. "Tonight, there's a party for everyone on the team and the squad over at the bar on the far side of the resort."

"Yeah, Brooke had mentioned a party before we left," Haley stated. "What does that have to do with my purse?"

"Dinner. Me and you, before the party and then from there, we can go together." Haley was about to object and laugh in his face over the idea when he cut her off. "You don't have time to argue and… you owe me. I could have sold that purse to some greasy Mexican dude but I didn't."

"Nathan –"

"I'll pick you up at your room at seven." He quickly lifted his shirt over his head and walked into the washroom. A few seconds later, Haley heard the water from the shower running. Deciding she didn't want to be in the room when he got out, she quickly let herself out of the room and rushed out of the hotel to meet her friends.

Finally making it to breakfast, she sat down in the booth beside Jake. Figuring she'd been sleeping off a hang over, no one even bothered to ask her why she'd been so late. After getting their meals and eating the group started to make plans for the rest of the day and Haley was left wondering what Nathan's intentions were. If she didn't know any better, Nathan had just asked her out on a date. _He wants you to tell Lucas. He knows Lucas will lose his mind and try and fight him. Its just an excuse to get to Lucas_, she kept repeating to herself. That had to be it. Nathan wasn't the dating type; especially with her.

"Earth to Haley James?" Brooke, who was sitting across the table from Haley, was waving her hands in the air trying to Haley's attention.

Haley's face turned red. _How long have I been sitting here in la-la-land_? "Sorry," she laughed lightly, "I'm just not feeling good. Trying to concentrate on not throwing up my breakfast."

"And, I'm done eating now," Jake announced from beside her. He had been mid-bite but didn't have a very strong stomach and the thought of Haley reproducing her scrabbled eggs on the table wasn't very appealing to him.

"Sorry," Haley laughed again. "You know, I don't want to be a damper on your guys day. Maybe I should just head up to my room, take and Advil and try nap or something."

"Hales! You have to come to the beach with us this morning," Brooke protested. "Just because you have a rum hang-over does not mean that you get to skip out on a tanning day with the girls. Besides, you'll feel better once you start doing something. Especially if that something is checking out hot boys on the beach!" Brooke turned to Peyton and the two girls gave each other a high five. Leave it to the two girls with steady boyfriends to be the ones most excited to go boy hunting.

"And now we're coming with you," Lucas announced, matter of factly.

"Lucas Eugene Scott," Brooke challenged.

Luke looked at Jake who nodded his head. "Lucas is right. There will be no gallivanting with Mexican boys and the only way we can be sure of that is to supervise."

"But you're going to ruin all the fun!" Peyton laughed. "Its no fun to check out boys with your boyfriend sitting two feet away from you."

"We're going. All of us," Luke announce, looking directly at Haley. _I guess I have no choice._ "Now, let me and Jake take care of breakfast, you three ladies go back to the hotel and get ready."

-OTH-

"So I buy you the hottest bikini in, like, the entire world and you come to the beach wearing that?" Brooke questioned Haley, pointing at the black, low cut, halter-styled bathing suit Haley was wearing. "Don't get me wrong, its cute but there is way to much fabric between your chest and hips," she added, referring to the fact that Haley's suit was a one-piece.

"I'm working my way into the bikini thing," Haley countered. "Sorry but I'm not really one for flaunting it."

"Why not Tutor Girl? You've totally got it."

"Just not my thing, Brooke." At that point, Jake and Lucas returned with a tray full of drinks and started passing them to the girls. When the got to Haley, she laughed and shook a bottle of water she'd been holding in the air for them to see. "I think I had enough last night. Thanks though."

"More for me!" Brooke said as she reached out and took Haley's drink from Lucas' hand. "Mmm, good Pina Colada's. I can see why you couldn't stop last night Hales. These things are addicting and kind of pretty looking." She started spinning the tiny, decorative umbrella that was resting on the edge of the fancy cup.

"Yeah, they're not so pretty coming back up though, trust me."

"Can we stop talking about puking?" Jake said sarcastically as he sat down in the lounge chair next to Peyton. "Seriously, its like, all we've talked about since we got here."

"Jakes right," Brooke announced as she leaned back in her chair and pulled her sunglasses back onto her face, "what we should be talking about is that uber-hottie coming up to us at like, three-o-clock."

Looking to her right, she noticed the group of guys walking their way and when she saw who was leading the group she almost spit out the mouthful of water she had. "Brooke, that's Nath-"

"Nathan Scott!" Peyton laughed as she stood from her seat and gave him a quick hug. She had gone to school with Brooke and Nathan forever. Like Brooke, she had also dated Nathan during high school but after breaking up, stayed friends with the guy. Peyton didn't take his crap and she always said she was able to see the real Nathan Scott.

Lucas' jaw and fists clenched at his presence. He'd never resented Peyton for being friends with the guy, he just didn't understand it and wasn't willing to try and forge his own friendship with him. Brooke, who was sitting in the lounge chair next to him, casually put her hand on his shoulder and he released some of the bottled up tension.

"Well aren't we all looking good," Nathan said as he lifted his sunglasses onto the top of his head and gave everyone a once over, lingering a little longer as he glanced at Haley's shapely legs. She felt his gaze, and in that moment was glad she hadn't worn the bikini Brooke had bought for her. She felt naked in front of him as it was.

After giving Peyton another quick hug, he said goodbye to the group. "I'll see _you_ later tonight," he added as he walked past Haley.

Once he'd gotten far enough down the beach, Brooke sat up again and looked at Haley. "What was that about?" she questioned.

"Oh, we um… his hotel room is a few doors down from mine. I uh, saw him this morning as I was leaving for breakfast. He mentioned something about the party… that must be what he was talking about," Haley mumbled, hoping that Brooke would buy it enough to drop the subject. Truthfully, even Haley didn't know what the evening was going to be about.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you again for the great reviews. I've had this chapter written basically since I posted the last one. A lot of people have complemented my writing style and I really appreciate that. I'm not completely satisfied with the flow of this chapter. I've always struggled to write flowing chapters when there are a lot of characters speaking in it. So, bare with me on this one. I don't want to ruin the chapter, so I'll give a little explanation at the end I guess… ENJOY&REVIEW!**

* * *

"Okay, what the hell is this Nathan?"

"Um, I think you got the chicken."

Haley groaned and rolled her eyes. "Not what I meant," she said as she set her fork on the table and ran her hand through her hair. "This, dinner. Of all the things you could have asked for, why this with me? If you think this will lead to you getting some, you should know that I still think you're –"

"An ass," Nathan cut in, finishing her sentence for her. "Yeah, I know you do."

She had spent most of the day trying to figure out what exactly Nathan was trying to get out of this 'date'. When she wasn't thinking of that, she was trying to figure out how best to ditch her friends early so that she could get ready. After a few hours at the beach, she decided to play the 'I'm-not-feeling-so-hot card' and excused herself to her room, promising to nap so that she'd be in better shape for the party that evening. She hated lying to her friends but none of them would understand, especially since she didn't understand it herself.

"So, is it like… your thing? Taking out girls who basically everything about you, including the ground you walk on?"

"Ouch," he replied blankly. "I just thought I should take out once before the inevitable happens."

Haley scoffed. "And what would the inevitable be? Me punching you square in the jaw? I may be tiny Nathan but I went to school with Lucas and Jake and have three older brothers who taught me how to throw a wicked right hook."

"You're falling for me."

She couldn't contain her laughter. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

He didn't answer her question. Instead he signaled for their waiter to come over and politely asked for the bill. Haley opened her purse and started to dig out money for her meal. "I'll take care of it," Nathan replied, flashing her a credit card he'd pulled from his wallet. "I think it's only appropriate that I spring for dinner on our first date."

"It wasn't a date," Haley said as she stood from her seat.

"What ever you need to believe," he called out as she started walking away from the table towards the front door of the restaurant.

* * *

"Tutor Girl, where were you?" Brooke exclaimed as Haley finally walked up to her group of friends who were relaxing at a table in a quieter part of the club. "We came to get you and you weren't in your room. You had us totally worried."

"Obviously not that worried. You guys are still here," Haley countered. She hadn't meant to come off so bitchy, but she instantly regretted the tone she'd used with her friends.

"When you weren't in your room we thought maybe you'd already left for the party. We came here looking for you," Jake replied. "Seriously Hales, where were you? First you ditch out early on the beach and then you disappear completely. Is everything okay?"

Haley felt like her heart had dropped into her stomach. She and Jake had been best friends since grade school and she hated lying to him. She hated lying to all of them, but, even after the dinner with Nathan, she couldn't explain it or what Nathan had gotten out of it. She didn't want to bring it up because she knew her friends and she knew that they would make a bigger deal out of it than it really was.

"Sorry, I just… I had some stuff to take care of," she mumbled, hoping that it would be enough for them to drop the subject.

"You were with a guy!" Peyton exclaimed.

"What? No!" Haley countered. _Shit!_

"Haley, your busted!" Brooke laughed. "Its written all over your face that you're lying. "Who was it? Please tell me it was one of the guys from the team!"

"Please tell me it wasn't," Lucas mumbled.

Her head was spinning. They knew she was with someone and sooner or later, she was sure they'd find out whom, but at that moment, she wasn't sure if she could tell them. "I don't kiss and tell," she replied with a small smile. _Please let them drop it_.

"Oh god, she's kissing him," Jake groaned.

"Cool it, over protective Dad!" Peyton joked as she gave Jake a quick swat in the chest.

"He's right," Lucas said. "Who ever this guy is, he better not show up tonight."

Haley groaned. She should have gotten used to their over-protective nature when it came to her and her love life, but she still hadn't. "Okay, can we just drop the subject? He's not going to come tonight, okay?" She glared at both Lucas and Jake until she finally got the nod that said they were going to lay off. "Good, now I'll go get us some drinks!"

She left the table and walked over to the bar. "Two Corona and three Pina Colada's please?" she asked the bartender politely. While he started making her drinks she scanned the crowded club and noticed how many players from Duke were there.

"Looking for someone? Hot date from earlier, maybe?"

Haley rolled her eyes and looked at Nathan who had slid up next to her at the bar. "What do you want? Other than to waste even more of my time."

He reached into his back pocket and opened his wallet, quickly producing a hotel key. "I guess if your drinking again tonight I should give you this. Now if you need to get sick in my bathroom, I don't have to get out of bed," he said as he handed the card to her.

Turning away from him, she rolled her eyes again.

"Or you know, if you get lonely… you can always come and visit."

"God, you're such an ass!" she spat at him.

Laughing to himself, he turned away. "What can you do?" he questioned sarcastically as he began walking away from her.

Haley picked up the key from off the bar and stuffed it into the back pocket of her jeans. _Now I can break in and smother him with his pillow_, she thought. The bartender returned with a tray full of drinks and handed it to Haley.

"This round's on me," she announced as she arrived back at the table where her friends were sitting.

* * *

For the second night in a row, Haley was drunk. Unlike the previous night, so were Brooke and Peyton. The three girls were together in the middle of the dance floor, hips shaking and bodies swaying to the music that filled the club. It was nearly three o'clock in the morning and besides some passed out college students, they were the only ones left in the club where the Duke party had been.

"We should probably go back to the hotel," Brooke announced to her friends as she polished off another drink. "If Lucas and Jake wake up and we're not there… you know they're going to worry."

"Your right," Peyton said. She tipped back her drink and finished it. "Hale's you ready to go?"

Haley spun around in a circle as she sipped her drink. "Yeah sure. Whatever," she replied, still dancing.

After grabbing the few things they'd left at their table, the girls linking arms and left the club. Finding their way back to the hotel had proved to be a challenge, as all three of the girls were stumbling over their own feet and fighting over directions. Eventually though, they found themselves back at their hotel.

"Hey, wait a second," Haley said as they walked up to the front door of the hotel. She detached herself from the human chain she had formed with her friends and sat down on the ground, leaning up against the side of the building. "Am I pretty?" she questioned her friends.

"What?" Brooke asked. "Haley of course you are!"

"Hales, where is this coming from?" Peyton wondered.

"Its just… at the club you said you should get back to the hotel because of Jake and Lucas. I had no reason to come back. No one was going to worry about me. I just though… maybe I didn't have a boyfriend because I wasn't pretty like you guys." She paused for a second and looked up at her friends. Neither of the other girls knew what to say. "Never mind. It was stupid."

"Haley, look… you don't have a boyfriend because you haven't found anyone good enough for you yet," Brooke said as she tucked a strand of hair behind Haley's ear.

"There aren't a lot of good guys like Lucas and Jake, Haley. We were lucky to find them. Someday you'll find a guy who is great like them," Peyton added.

"I'll tell you why I don't have a boyfriend… It's because _your_ stupid boyfriends scare away any guy that I like," Haley laughed as she attempted without success to stand up. "I don't know what's up with those two, but they have the biggest savior complex in the world."

"They just care about you, Hales," Peyton told her as she offered her a hand and pulled her up from the ground.

"I know," Haley said softly. She gave each of her friends a hug. "Sorry I'm being such a baby! I know it's a major buzz kill."

"I'm still buzzed," Brooke laughed. "In fact, I think I'm still really drunk."

"Me too," Peyton agreed.

"I love you guys!" Haley laughed. "I'm pretty tired though and my feet are killing me. I think I'm going to go and crash in my room. I'll see you for breakfast in the morning?"

"You sure you don't want us to walk you to your room?" Brooke questioned.

"I'll be fine. See you in the morning."

Haley turned and walked down the hallway that went to her room. _1-7-2…shit! Okay, room numbers are written on the keys so where is my key?_ She opened her purse and started digging through it. _Damn!_ She knew it was with her somewhere. She remembered putting it in her… _Oh, my pocket! _She put her hand in her back pocket and pulled out the key. _1723._

"Gosh I'm smart," she mumbled to herself as she put the key in the door and let herself into the room. Without turning on the lights, she kicked her shoes off at the door and made her way into the room. After stripping out of her jeans and the black fitted top she'd been wearing, she found the oversized t-shirt she slept in, pulled it over her head and then crawled into bed. A minute later, she was sleeping soundly, oblivious to the sleeping figure next to her.

1-7-2-3.

One thousand and twenty–three.

23.

The jersey number of a certain Duke Blue Devil she just happened to think was an ass.

* * *

**A/N: oh boy! Drama, drama, drama! I've already written the first part of the next chapter and its by far my favorite…. Now its just to finish it! **

**I know that lots of people were excited to see the Naley dinner/date thing. Lots of people had mentioned there being a spark between them. I had thought about writing Haley realizing she had feelings for Nathan, but it just didn't seem like the right time in the story. I just don't want to rush a Naley relationship. Also, on the dinner… I hate reading small talk, so I don't write it… that's why there was no "Haley was wearing this and Nathan was wearing this" thing over their date. It just seemed really trivial. I like to get to the good stuff. **

**Anyways! Thanks so much for reading… now review for me! (Sorry my chapters are short. I'd rather post short chapters every few days than wait a week to post longer ones.)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I had a really awesome note here and then it didn't save and now i'm to lazy to rewrite it. THANKS FOR THE REVIEWS! do the same for this one, mkay? love.**

_Kill me now._ She hadn't opened her eyes but she immediately felt her head pounding and her stomach turning; the recently familiar feeling of a hang over. _And I thought I'd spend my mornings waiting for Brooke to sleep off her hangovers. _She slowly started to open her eyes but snapped them closed again, groaning, because of the bright sunlight filling the room. She reached over to the other side of the bed to grab the extra pillow but instead, her hand landed on the stomach of a second party.

Her eyes snapped open as she sat up and turned to look at the person next to her. "Ohmigod," she mumbled.

Nathan was sitting up, his back resting against the headboard, a mug of coffee in one hand and the remote control in the other. "Morning," he said dryly, giving her a quick glance before turning back to the sports program that was playing on TV.

"What happened last night?" Haley questioned, more to herself than him, as she sat up in bed. She looked around the room and noticed that her clothes were scattered across the floor, along with his, and, looking down at her body, she was wearing one of his Duke basketball t-shirts. "Ohmigod," she mumbled again. "Look I was really drunk last night and, despite what you may think, I never meant for this to happen. Nathan, you can't tell Lucas."

"Hm?" he muttered, turning away from the TV.

"Nathan, this is kind of a big deal," she said as she got out of the bed and bent over to pick up her clothes from the floor. She walked into the bathroom, but left the door open. "I mean, how drunk _was_ I last night? I don't remember anything about what happened here," she continued as she took off his shirt and dressed herself in her own clothes from the night before.

She waited a few seconds for him to respond and sighed when he said nothing. Her head was spinning, and not just because of the hang over. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she walked out of the bathroom and back towards the room where the bed was. "Nathan, did we… I mean… you used… we were protected, right?"

Nathan looked up into her eyes for a second before turning the TV off and standing up from the bed. "Haley, what do you think happened here?"

"Well, you were saying last night at the restaurant how it was inevitable that we'd end up sleeping together. I must have gotten really drunk last night at the party and come back here with you. Again Nathan, Lucas and Jake can't know about this. Especially not Lucas, he'd flip."

"We didn't sleep together, Haley."

"But –"

"I mean, we slept together, but we didn't have sex," Nathan stated. "I'm not that kind of guy. I know that you might not believe it, but it's the truth."

Haley sat down on the edge of his bed and wrinkled her eyebrows together in confusion. "So, how'd I end up in your bed this morning?"

Nathan shrugged his shoulders before taking a drink from his coffee cup. "I gave you a key last night, as a joke. I knew it would piss you off, I never thought you'd actually use it. I left the club before half of the guys from team did last night. I must have been passed out when you came back. I didn't hear you come in and I didn't notice you until this morning."

"How does this keep happening?" Haley questioned, laughing. "I mean, of all the rooms in this hotel, how have I ended up in yours both nights I've been here? Why you?"

"Its that inevitability thing," he answered simply.

"Would you drop that? Seriously, I'm not going to end up in bed with you." She paused when she realized the situation she was in. Nathan smirked at her, realizing it too, and she groaned in return. Nathan having something like this over her head would not be a good thing. In fact, it could be just about the worst thing in the world. "Again. I'm not going to end up in bed with you again," she corrected herself. "This was a one time thing; a minor lapse in judgment," she continued as she stood up and started walking towards the door. "Your still an ass," she added before walking out the door and down the hallway back to the lobby to get another key to her room since she'd apparently lost hers yet again.

"Have a good day Haley James," Nathan called out before the door had closed completely.

-OTH-

The hotel pool area was packed that day with hot college students who looked like they had just stepped out of an Abercrombie bathing suit photo shoot. Haley and Peyton were sitting at the swim up bar, leisurely sipping their drinks as they laughed about their drunken adventures from the previous night. Though Peyton was the only one of her friends on good terms with Nathan, Haley conveniently forgot to tell her about her sleeping arrangements from the night before.

"So, should we be worried about Brooke?" Haley questioned as she looked around the pool area again. Brooke was over an hour late to meet them. Normally, Haley wouldn't think twice about Brooke being late; just two mornings ago she'd slept in and they'd almost missed their flight to Mexico. In the short seven months they'd been living together, Brooke's promptness was something that Haley had learnt not to depend on. But today, Lucas and Jake were gone out with guys from the team, which meant Brooke could finally sit in her bathing suit and check out all the hot boys _without_ her boyfriend at her side, which made it all the more fun. She'd never cheat on Lucas; he, and everyone that knew her, knew that she would never. But she said it was her duty as a roommate and friend to find Haley a hot boy, and she had to look to be able to do that.

"I usually give her an hour and half grace period," Peyton laughed, "if it gets any longer than that, then there's reason to worry." The two girls hadn't gone to high school together; in fact, they'd never spent a lot of time together in person, but their friendship was just natural. "So, do you want to tell me about this mystery guy that you're sneaking around with?"

Haley tried to keep herself from blushing when she thought of Nathan and the lies she'd been telling her friends the past two days. As much as she hated his attitude and the way he treated Lucas, she had to admit that he was quite the looker; kind of hot actually. Appearance wise, he was exactly the type that Haley was attracted to; tall, dark, and handsome. Personality wise, she couldn't stand him.

"Is he someone I would know?" Peyton questioned.

"Yeah, Brooke might have mentioned him a couple times," she said awkwardly. She wasn't lying. Brooke had defiantly ranted to Peyton about Nathan and what an ass he was.

"Morning Goldilocks, Tutor Girl." The two girls turned around, relieved to see Brooke standing behind them. As usual, she looked stunning; her hair pulled into a messy pony tale on the top of her head, a pair of oversized sunglasses perched on her nose, and her body adorning a dark purple bikini. She walked between her two friends and threw her arms around their shoulders. "Nice suit, Hales. I told you you'd look hot."

Haley blushed as she glanced down, taking a quick peak at herself in the red bikini that Brooke had bought for her. "Thanks." While she would never go into a store and buy something that revealing, she had to admit, she felt good wearing it. She knew that of all the days on their trip, today would be the day to wear the skimpy bikini. She knew that if Lucas and Jake were to see her in it, she'd spend the whole day listening to her two best friends tell her that she needed to go back up to her room and put something more on, even though their own girlfriends were wearing just as little as her. Sometimes, she liked her friends being protective of her but other times, it drove her crazy. "So, are you going to explain why you were so late?"

Brooke took her arms off of her friend's shoulders and looked over her shoulder at the crowded pool. "Actually," she said with a small smile as she moved and sat at the empty stool next to Peyton, "he's walking over here right now."

Haley looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened in shock and she almost spit out her drink when she saw the guy walking over to them from the far side of the pool. If everyone else in that pool was an Abercrombie model, he was an Abercrombie god. He was probably as tall as Lucas, wide shoulders and a well-defined chest and abs. Very well defined. He had a pair of white sunglasses propped on top of his short, slightly curly, brown hair and a five o'clock shadow across his cheeks and jaw line.

"Brooke who is that?" she questioned, turning back to look at her two friends, who were both laughing at the expression that had appeared on her face when she saw who was walking up to them.

"His name is Trenton. He's a junior, playing football and majoring in business at NC State," Brooke replied quickly before he reached them. Once he got the bar, he took a seat on the other side of Haley and smiled brightly at her. "Trenton, glad you could make it," Brooke said, flashing him a smile. "This is my this is my best friend, Peyton and, this is Haley, the one I was tell you about."

"Nice to meet you," he said, shaking both girls hands, but lingering a little longer as he looked at Haley. She smiled back to him before shooting Brooke a glare. Brooke had made a habit out of trying to set Haley up with every hot guy she met. She had told Haley that, if she couldn't date them she should be able to set them up with a girl that was just as hot as her and that she loved. Haley usually humored her and went out on her blind dates. The boys were good to look at and the food was usually delicious and free, but, besides a headache, that was all Haley walked away with.

"You too," Haley replied politely. She wanted to give the guy a chance, but she knew his type; his was exactly like all the other guys Brooke had tried to set her up with. By ten o'clock he'd be trying to get into her pants and she'd have to tell him that she was a virgin, waiting for the right guy. That usually scared them away before she had to think of an excuse to not give out her number. "So, Brooke says you play football?"

She hadn't expected to like him but listening to him talk about the game, it amazed her how much he sounded like Jake or Lucas when they talked about basketball. He felt it was something he was born to do. She let him buy her a drink, and then another one, and then another one, and before she knew it, he'd bought her more than a few drinks and it was late afternoon and the newly familiar feeling of being drunk was starting to set in. When Brooke and Peyton excused themselves from the conversation to go meet up with Luke and Jake, she hadn't tried to stop them or use them leaving as an excuse to get away. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she had finally met a good-looking guy who wasn't a total and complete airhead.

"Your really beautiful, you know that?" he questioned her, pushing a strand of her wet hair behind her ear, causing her to smile. "And the bathing suit doesn't hurt you either."

She smiled and took another sip of her drink. "Your not so bad looking either."

"Me and a bunch of buddies were going to leave the resort and go to this club tonight. Would you want to come with me? You can bring your friends if you want."

"Are you asking me out on a date?"

He smiled. "I guess so."

"I'd love to." She leaned in and gently placed a kiss on his cheek. "I should probably go and get ready then."

"I'll meet you in the lobby at eight?"

"Sounds great."

She said her good-bye and then left the swim up bar, walking across the pool to where the stairs were. She got out of the pool and walked over to the cart where the towels were, quickly grabbing one and wrapping it around her body.

"So, are you planning to drunkenly stumbled into his bed tonight, or mine?"

She rolled her eyes before turning around to face him with a fake smile. "What are you talking about?" she questioned.

"The guy you were with all afternoon," Nathan explained, pointing across the pool to where she and Trenton had been sitting. He was still sitting there, only now guys who she presumed were his friends and teammates surrounded him. "You guys were getting pretty close. I think I even saw a kiss. Are you guys going out tonight?"

"God, are you stalking me? Why were you watching me all day?" she questioned as she started walking away from him.

"It was kind of hard not to," he said as he followed close behind her, leaving the pool area.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The bathing suit. It was… really hot actually. Who knew that Haley James the _study_ bunny had the body of a _playboy_ bunny." She chose to ignore his comment as she walked down the hallway where their rooms were. "This is my room," he said, stopping in front of his door. "But you already know that. You can come over for a good time tonight after you get back from your lame date with your new boyfriend."

Haley stopped walking and turned around. "You jealous, Nathan?" she questioned, laughing lightly to her self. She turned around and continued walking down the hallway towards her room, leaving Nathan standing in the hallway, watching her.

"Actually… kind of," he mumbled as he turned away and let himself into his room.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews everyone! They were great to read. Sorry this chapter took a few more days to put up than all the other ones had. As I said, classes just started up again for me and of course, my Bio and Chem teachers are evil and packed on the hmwrk the first day! Groan It was also a weird chapter to write because I didn't know what I wanted to do with it but slowly my creativeness kicked in... It is a lot of dialouge and less discription than other chapters, I appologize for that but there was really no other way to do it. Its kind of a 2-parter, hopefully I'll get to finish writting the second part and get it up by the end of the weekend! Anyways, I'm rambling. Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think:)**

Haley paced the floor of her hotel room nervously wringing her hands together. Despite how much she'd had to drink that afternoon, the nap, shower and supper had sobered her up considerably. Now, the lightheaded sensation she'd had most of the afternoon had been replaced with a tight pain in her stomach. A nervous pain. She hadn't been on a date in… well, okay… she hadn't been on a date since yesterday, but a date with Nathan Scott hardly counted as a real date. Trenton was nice and respectable and generous and honest and… good-looking. Very, very good looking. He was the kind of guy Haley could actually see herself dating and that was what made her nervous.

She stopped in front of the mirror and looked at her reflection. She'd blow-dried her hair straight and spent the time to actually do her make up. She was wearing a pair of dark, low-rise jeans that she'd stolen from Brooke's dresser one day and a dark blue tank top. Groaning, she peeled the shirt off her body and threw it on the floor amongst the other shirts she'd tried on that night. She wanted to look good that night and nothing she had tried on seemed to work.

A loud knock came at the door and she breathed a sigh of relief. She rushed to the door and smiled when she opened the door and saw Brooke standing in the hallway, a stack of shirts tossed over her arm. Grabbing her by the free hand, she pulled her into the room and shut the door.

Brooke walked into the room and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the mess Haley had created. "Hales, did a Mexican wind storm blow through here?" she laughed as she dropped the pile of clothes on the bed.

Haley folded her arms across her chest and glared at Brooke. "Not funny."

"I thought it was," the perky brunette laughed. She took a seat on the bed and tossed Haley the first top to Haley. "Try this."

Haley walked over to the mirror and pulled the shirt over her shoulders. It was cute, just really simple. "To simple. I want him to lose his breath when he sees me," Haley replied pulling the top off her.

"You could always just go like that," Brooke suggested sarcastically, pointing at Haley who was standing in front of the mirror in the jeans and her dark purple bra. "Or, just wear the bikini I bought you!"

Haley threw the shirt back at Brooke. "Brooke! I'm serious! I really need your help. What else do you have?"

Brooke tossed a few of the shirts from her pile onto the other side of the bed. "Here," she said, throwing Haley another shirt. "It's not what you'd normally wear but I know you'd look hot in it."

Haley held the white, corset-style shirt to her body and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She slipped the shirt over her body and waited for Brooke to zip it up in the back for her. "This is perfect," she said, a small smile gracing her lips as she admired her reflection.

OTH

She'd opted to take a cab with Trenton and a few of his buddies, leaving Lucas, Brooke, Jake and Peyton in a cab by themselves. They all met at the club and Haley introduced Trenton to Jake and Luke and then they got introductions to the rest of his friends and teammates. Of course, Brooke and Peyton had opened up and were being friendly with everyone, but Lucas and Jake were quite, trying to read Trenton. On the surface, he seemed like a decent guy but they knew it could just be an act to try and get Haley in his bed that night. While they'd promised their girlfriends they wouldn't make things awkward for Haley, they weren't just going to let this guy walk all over her either.

"Can I get you a drink?" Trenton asked Haley.

She laughed. "I think I've had more to drink in the last two days than I've had in my life." She smiled and held up a bottle of water. "I think I'm sticking with good old water for tonight. But thanks."

"Haley… you're young, you're beautiful, and you're in Mexico for Spring Break. You should be having the time of your life… Come on, let me buy you one drink."

"Really, I'm just going to take it easy tonight."

"Exactly. Take it easy. One drink won't hurt you."

"Trenton…"

"Come on Haley."

"I think she said she didn't want anything to drink man," Jake finally exclaimed, glaring across the table at Trenton. Brooke had assured him that Trenton was a nice guy, but from what he could see, he was pushy and arrogant. "Why don't you just back off?"

"Jake!" Haley exclaimed.

"Sorry, he's right. I should be pushing you… um, I'm just going to go and grab a beer," Trenton mumbled, pointing towards the bar. "I'll catch up with you later, I guess." He stood up from the chair and walked over to the bar.

"That was a real dick-move Jake," Haley exclaimed. "I'm not sixteen anymore, and contrary to your belief, I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself. I don't need you to protect me. In fact, I never did. You need to drop this savior complex you have over me." She grabbed her purse and started walking away from the table.

Lucas stood and ran to catch up to her, grabbing her arm when he finally reached her. "Haley, where are you going?"

She shook her arm away from his grip. "Don't start with me Lucas. You're just as bad as he is. You both treat me like we're still in high school and we're not. I don't need you to watch over everything I do. Just stay away from me the rest of the night, okay?"

She stormed off in the direction of the bar and Lucas didn't know whether to follow her and try work this out or just let her cool off for the night. Finally deciding going after her would only cause more problems, he turned back to the table where Jake, Peyton and Brooke were sitting.

"She's pissed?" Jake questioned.

"Yeah," Lucas answered simply.

"I don't blame her," Brooke said simply. "We told you guys to quit ragging on every guy she brings around. She wants to find someone and be happy but she can't because you guys find something wrong with every guy she falls for!"

"Brooke, the guy was practically forcing drinks down her throat!" Lucas exclaimed. "Haley rarely drinks, okay? And as we've all seen in the past couple days; when she does she doesn't control it well. This guy gets a few drinks in her… I just didn't want anything bad to happen."

"You've got to let her make her own decisions. She's never going to find someone to make her happy if you guys keep interfering," Peyton said slowly. "Me and Brooke… we found you guys and sure, it took a long time… lots of dating and broken hearts –"

"And we don't want Haley to have her heart broken," Jake said softly. "When the right guy comes, he'll treat her right and he'll get our respect but until then… Haley is always going to be like my little sister and I won't let anyone hurt her."

"You guys had each other growing up. You had each other's backs like we have Haley's. We just have an upper hand knowing how guys are. You didn't have that so maybe you don't get what its --"

"We had Nathan!" Brooke spat out.

Luke rolled his eyes. "Can we not talk about him, please?"

"Lucas, he was my friend. Not so long ago, we were just like you and Haley. He may have become this shitty guy lately, but you didn't know him," Brooke exclaimed.

"He was always a shitty guy, Brooke! You said yourself that dating him was the worst mistake you'd made in high school."

"Yeah, _dating_ him was because it ruined the great friendship we had. At the time, I wouldn't have given up my friendship with him for anything."

Lucas laughed quietly to himself, shaking his head. "So all this time we've been dating and you told me how much you hated him…"

"I hated the guy he'd become and I hated what he was doing to my boyfriend."

"I can't believe this," Lucas mumbled.

"Look, we should probably go find Haley," Peyton said, standing up from her seat. "Come on Brooke."

Brooke stood up from the table and grabbed her purse, following Peyton away from the table. Lucas groaned and ran his hand through his short hair. "Do I go after her?" he asked Jake. "Or would that just make everything worse?"

"Give her the night to cool off man," Jake suggested. "Tomorrow, this will have all blown over and you guys can talk."

"You want to get out of here?" Lucas questioned, glancing over his shoulder at the door. "I'm not really feeling the club tonight."

"Yeah, um… sound good. I'll just find Peyton and let her know we're taking off. Meet you outside?" Jake suggested.

'Sounds good man," Lucas agreed.

-OTH-

"Haley! There you are!" Brooke exclaimed. After her argument with Lucas, she wasn't really up for the club scene either, but neither her nor Peyton wanted to leave without Haley. They'd been looking all over the place for her and now, almost half an hour later, found her sitting with Trenton in the back corner of the room. "Tutor Girl, we've been looking for you forever! Where have you been?"

"Right here!" Haley giggled.

"Haley have you been drinking again?" Peyton asked, bending down to look at her. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were half closed.

"Just a little," she slurred.

Peyton stood up and glared at Trenton. "She said she didn't want anything to drink and you kept at her until started! God, Jake was right!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on…" Trenton said, standing up and throwing his hands in the air. He walked around the table and led Brooke and Peyton. "I left your table and went to the bar! A couple minutes she came and found me and she had a drink in her hand. It was her decision to start drinking tonight… I didn't make her do anything!" he explained in a hushed voice.

"How'd she get so drunk then?" Brooke cut in.

"She's a grown up. She wanted to drink, who am I to stop her?"

Peyton walked around the table to Haley. "Come on Hales. We're going to go back to the hotel. You should come with us now."

"No!" Haley said loudly. "I'm going to stay with Trenton. I'm having a good time and I want to stay! I'll take a cab back to the hotel later."

"Haley," Brooke said softly.

"Don't Brooke. I'm not going back now, so you're wasting your breath," Haley said simply. "I'll be fine, okay? I'll meet you guys for breakfast in the morning."

"Okay. Be careful Hales," Brooke said. She walked around the table and pointed her finger into Trenton's face. "She better make it back to her hotel room tonight and she better be okay when she does or else my boyfriend won't be the only one kicking your ass."

"I'll take care of her Brooke," Trenton assured her.

"Good. Okay, lets go Peyton."

Trenton watched as the two girls walked across the room and then left the club. He smiled and put his hand on Haley's thigh. "What do you think, gorgeous? Ready for another drink yet?"

Haley smiled weakly and nodded. "Sure, why not?"

"Great! I'll be right back."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Ohmigoodness. I feel really bad that it took me an entire week to get this post up. I really worked myself into a corner on the last one. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen in this chapter, I just couldn't figure out how to write it. I had said that this chapter would be a continuation of the last... well the next one will be a continuation of this one. Its shorter than usual, and I apologize because you guys already think my posts are pretty short, but this one is a little more from Nathan's POV. Anyways, I'm rambling and you probably don't care AT ALL about anything I'm saying. **

**I HATE the stupid nanny by the way. Ugh. I would kick her non-existant but if I had the chance. **

**Anyways. READ&REVIEW&ENJOY!**

"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!" the crowd of college guys chanted as the tiny brunette girl in the center of the group downed her fourth beer in a row. She took the last gulp and held the cup up in the air victoriously, the crowd erupting with applause as she did.

"Dude, you should see this girl," the 'oh-so-cute' but 'not-so-bright' Tim Smith laughed as he approached Nathan who was sitting at the bar, chatting up a cute blonde named Jessica. The two boys were teammates at Duke and had been friends during high school thanks to summer basketball camps. "She's like this big," he motioned to the center of his chest, "she's shot gunned like four beer in ten minutes and she's totally wasted."

Nathan laughed and stood up, completely blowing off the girl he'd just been talking to. "Where is she?"

Tim pointed to the table near by. Nathan pushed through the crowd of guys. At Duke, he was usually at the center of crowds like this; there was always a girl that would drink herself to a state of unconsciousness for a chance to spend a night with Nathan Scott. When he finally reached the center of the crowd, the girl in the center had her head tipped back, another beer to her mouth.

The crowd of guys were chanting and laughing. Conversations of "dude, this is her fifth beer in fifteen minutes,' and 'who ever bought all those drinks for her is going to get lucky tonight," were taking place all around Nathan. He laughed as the girl finished the drink and the guys in the group cheered again. This was exactly what he had come to the club for that night. The weird feelings he'd get around Haley were confusing, even to him, and he just couldn't seem to get his head around the situation, or lack-there-of, with her. He needed to have a couple drinks and let loose. He needed to stop thinking about Haley.

"Haley?"

The girl in the center of the group was Haley. As soon as she'd taken the large beer mug away from her face and sat straight up, it was obvious. Over the last couple night, he'd seen her drunk… but this was at a new level. Her eyes were only half opened and it was easy to see she was having trouble sitting up in her chair. Her hair was a tangled mess and the thin straps of her shirt were falling off her shoulders, something that the very conservative Haley would never let happen. She looked like a disaster.

"Haley, are you okay?" Nathan questioned after rushing towards her and bending down to face her. Seeing her in the state she was in had instantly sobered him up. "How much have you had to drink."

"Luke?" she questioned drunkenly.

"No Hales, its Nathan," he said, taking her hand in his. "Come on, I'll take you back to the hotel."

"Haley! Here's another beer from Trenton!" one of the random frat guys said, pushing the mug of beer across the table.

She smiled weakly and pulled her hand away from Nathan, grabbing the cup and putting it to her mouth. The cheering and chanting from the crowd around them exploded again.

"Haley, you should drink anymore," Nathan said, reaching across the table and taking the beer from her. The crowd around them groaned.

"No, Nathan. I do need to drink more. Give me back my beer," she slurred. Nathan tried to protest but she put her hand up and cut him off. "Your not even my friend, Nathan. I'm having fun so just give me back my beer and go to hell."

Nathan didn't want to give it back to her. He'd seen girls in her situation. He'd _put_ girls in her situation, and now, after seeing Haley like this, he wasn't proud of it. But, she was right; they weren't friends and he couldn't make her do anything. He handed her back the half-cup of beer and walked away.

Haley turned to the drunken frat guy beside her. "Tell Trenton to get me another drink. A stronger one." She put the half a glass of beer to her mouth and downed the rest of the drink.

* * *

"Hey there, stranger."

Nathan looked up from his drink. He'd hardly sat down when the perky blonde he'd been talking to before had sat down at the chair beside him and ran her hand up his thigh. Fifteen minutes ago, she was going to be the distraction he needed to get his mind off of Haley. Now, seeing her was just a reminder of the type of guy he was and that was the last thing in the world he wanted.

"You took off so quickly before, I didn't get a chance to ask you if you wanted to come back up to my hotel room tonight," the blonde haired girl continued.

"I'm not really feeling it tonight," Nathan said flatly, turning away from her and fixing his eyes on his drink once again.

"Oh," she replied, clearly disappointed. "Well, maybe tomorrow we could meet at the pool or the beach and –"

"I'm not really feeling _you_, actually," Nathan replied, glancing up at her. "Sorry, your just… not really my type. You should probably just… um… leave."

Tears welled in the girl's eyes and she ran away quickly. She was a pretty girl and Nathan figured that she had rarely been turned down but tonight; he just didn't want to be that guy. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that the crowd around the table where Haley had been sitting had gotten significantly smaller but he still couldn't see her.

"That was harsh, don't you think?"

Nathan turned and for the first time, noticed the guy sitting on the other side of him. "Excuse me?"

"The blonde chick; if she's not your type you must be into guys," the stranger continued.

Nathan finally realized that the guy must've heard him tell Jessica-the-blonde to take a hike. "She just seemed like the kind of girl who'd want to cuddle the next morning and have a picnic breakfast on the beach," Nathan explained half-heartedly. In fact, he had said no because he realized that sleeping with her wouldn't get rid of the confusing feelings he had every time he was around Haley. "Not really what I was looking for, you know?"

The guy smirked. "Feed her a few drinks and then toss one of _these_ into the last one…" he pulled a small bag of pills out of his pocket, "…trust me, she won't want to stick around the next morning." He dropped the pill into the drink. "Here, just in case you decided that a night with Blondie with no strings attached would be something you'd need." He handed the last few pills in the bag to Nathan and stood up, taking his two drinks with him. "See you around dude."

Nathan didn't watch him walk away. Something about the guy seemed familiar and he was almost embarrassed to think about what that might be. Deep down, he knew that he saw a huge similarity in himself and in the stranger who had been sitting next to him. They were both good-looking guys who would do what ever it took to get a night of great sex. He was embarrassed to be the type of guy who would get a girl drunk just to take advantage of her.

_Haley_. He closed his eyes and the image of Haley from the pool that afternoon appeared in his mind. She had looked beautiful and incredibly sexy and he had wanted to go over to her and say something, do anything just to be closer to her, but she had been flirting with that guy.

"Haley." He stood up and turned around. It suddenly clicked to him that the guy Haley had been with that afternoon was the guy who had just been sitting next to him. He looked towards the table where the group had once been crowded around but only a few drunken frat boys remained there. _Please God, let me find her in time._

* * *

**(8) dun, dun, dun... oh boy. Sorry if it was rough. This chapter was DIFFICULT AS HECK to write. Hope you liked it:)**

**REVIEW TIME**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Oh my goodness, I feel so terrible that it took me this long to get this Chapter up. I am officially the worst writer ever. Ugh, I hate when it takes weeks for an author to get chapters up and here I am doing the same thing! I am so sorry for the long wait for this chapter... I had a really hard time trying to write this one. I was really undecided on what i wanted to happen and how i wanted it to happen but I really like how it ended up. I tried to make it a bit longer than usual to make up for the lack of updating i've done in the last week but it really needed to end where it did. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks so much to everyone who's taken the time to review this story. They always make my day. Please continue to do so. Also, if anyone knows of any good NALEY fics to read, let me know... :D thankss guys! **

**oh, and i edited the summary for the story. it's gone in a different direction than i originally thought it would. **

**ENJOY!**

He was standing in front of the strange hotel room and he couldn't remember how he'd gotten there. Everything from the moment he realized Haley was gone until this moment was like a blank spot in his mind. He couldn't remember getting in the cab and driving back to the hotel on the resort or talking to the hotel security. He didn't remember watching the tape of Haley, nearly unconscious, being taken into the strange hotel room by the guy he'd met earlier at the bar. He didn't remember running down the hallways of the hotel, the overweight security guard struggling to keep up with him, to get her out of that room before anything happened to her. It was like everything leading up to that point hadn't mattered; all that mattered was that he had gotten there.

His heart was hammering against his chest and was the only thing he could hear. He had easily out run the hefty security guard and was now standing in front of the door, ready to knock it down if the security guard didn't get there with the key soon. Every moment she was in that room with that guy was one moment to long in his mind. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Nathan, the security guard had gotten to the room and unlocked the door.

Without thinking, Nathan ran into the room and almost threw up when he saw the dark haired guy from the bar, wearing only a pair of boxers, laying on top of Haley who was completely naked. His hands were holding her wrists, pinning them to the bed, as he placed sloppy kisses all over her neck and collarbone. He could see Haley trying to fight against him, but with the amount of alcohol she had and the pill he'd given her, she was to weak to even speak let alone push the heavy football player off her body.

Something in him snapped and he lunged across the room and grabbed the guy, pulling him off of Haley and onto the floor. He had him pinned down and his right fist collided with the guys jaw over and over, not caring about the pain he felt as his knuckles split open. He was going to kill him. If he thought he could hurt Haley, he was wrong and he was going to die for doing it. Over and over, his fist collided with the guys face until he felt a hand on his arm, pulling him away. Looking up, he saw it was the security guard who had let him into the room. "Your friend needs you kid. I'll take care of this guy."

Nathan nodded and silently stood up, taking one last look at the bruised, bloody body lying on the ground. He could have killed the guy, and he probably would have if the security guard hadn't stopped him. But, Haley needed him more. He went to the bed and wrapped her body in the sheets before picking her tiny frame up in his arms and carrying her out of the room. Her arms instantly wrapped around his neck and she held herself close to his chest as he carried her. She was passing in and out of consciousness, but her tiny body couldn't stop shaking.

When he reached his room and unlocked the door, he laid her down gently on the bed. She had fallen asleep, but tears still clung to her eyelashes. Slowly, he reached out and brushed them away. He was reminded again how little he knew about her, yet it still killed him to see her cry. Brushing a few strands of her dark brown hair off her forehead, he kissed it gently. A spark shot through his lips and left a tingle over his whole body. Something about this girl… he didn't want to be the guy he once was. "Your beautiful," he said softly.

He covered her trembling body with the blanket on the bed before leaving the room and going back up to the front desk. "I need to know what room Lucas Scott is in."

"It's the middle of the night, sir," the man behind the desk said to him. "And we don't just give out room numbers to people. I'm sorry."

"He's my brother," Nathan said simply. "And it's an emergency."

He'd never been the good guy and he didn't necessarily know how to be the good guy but that night he knew that when Haley woke up, she'd want her friends around her. Despite wanting to be there for her himself, he knew that she wouldn't be comforted by that because she didn't know him or like him or even trust him. He finally reached the room number the man behind the desk had given him and knocked lightly on the door until it opened.

Lucas opened the door wearing a pair of boxers and a white t-shirt. His eyes were squinted, trying to adjust to the new light from the hallway that was pouring into his room. He looked tired and pissed off; and that was before seeing his ass of a brother standing in front of his room at three o'clock in the morning. "Nathan, what the hell—"

"It's Haley"

Luke's eyes snapped opened. "What about Haley?"

"The guy she was with tonight… he slipped something into her drink." The color drained from Luke's face as Nathan spoke and he had to grab onto the doorframe to stop himself from falling over. "I… um… I found them before anything really happened. He just had her in his room and –"

"Thank you," Lucas said as he reached out and hugged his brother. It was the first time both of the guys had even made any physical contact with each other, and to say it wasn't awkward would have been a lie. But it was the only thing he could think to do to show Nathan how thankful he was to him. He'd always been there to protect her. And this time, even though he had a bad feeling about Trenton, he'd left because they'd gotten in a fight. If Nathan hadn't been there… if something would have happened to Haley, Lucas knew he would never forgive himself. He owed Nathan. He owed him big time.

"She's sleeping in my room. You should get Brooke and Peyton and Jake and come… I'm sure she'll want to see you when she wakes up," Nathan said, stepping out of the hug. He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his hotel key. "1723," he said, handing Luke the key. "I'm going to go for a walk so you guys can just go in."

Luke nodded. "Thanks Nathan."

-OTH-

"Haley? Are you awake? Can you hear me?" Brooke questioned, sitting down on the edge of the bed taking Haley's hand. She had been sitting in Nathan's room with Lucas, Peyton and Jake in silence for hours waiting for her to wake up. The argument Brooke and Lucas had gotten into the night before had been forgotten, the only thing that was important was Haley. When she finally moved in bed and groaned and all four friends were instantly gathered around the bed, hoping to see her beautiful brown eyes opened.

"Water," she whispered without opening her eyes. She'd gotten used to the feeling of a hangover the last few days; a pounding headache and queasy stomach when she woke up in the morning was something that had become almost routine for her, but that morning her whole body ached not just her head and she knew that what she was feeling was much, much more than just a hangover.

Her four friends let out a relieved breath hearing her speak. They weren't sure what exactly Trenton had given her and they had all been worried about the side effects of the drug. Lucas stood up from the bed and went into the bathroom to grab a cup of water for her. He handed it to Brooke when he got back to the bed. Carefully, she and Peyton helped Haley sit up a bit in bed and gave her the glass of water to drink.

After a few more minutes of silence, Haley finally opened her eyes. "What happened?" she questioned softly.

"You don't remember?" Peyton questioned, taking Haley's free hand into her own.

She shook her head. The last thing she remembered was yelling at Jake and Lucas about being way to over protective of her and not letting her live her own life and she knew that a fight wasn't the reason why she was feeling like she had been hit by a moving-truck.

"Trenton… he slipped you something at the bar last night," Brooke began slowly.

It was then that Haley realized that she was only wrapped up in a bed sheet. "Oh god."

"Nothing happened, Hales," Lucas said quickly, noticing the look of panic that had appeared on her face. "Nathan realized what was going on and he… he got you out of Trenton's room before anything could happen."

She felt like crying. She had fought with Luke and Jake about Trenton. She'd defended him and taken his side over her best friends. For a smart girl, she suddenly felt pretty stupid. "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking away from her friends as tears pooled in her eyes. "You guys warned me that he wasn't a good guy and I didn't believe you. I should have believed you. God, I'm so stupid."

"Your not stupid, Haley!" Brooke exclaimed, wrapping her arms around her sobbing friend. "If anything, I'm stupid. I introduced you to the guy and you were just being you; trying to see the good in everybody. This isn't your fault. Don't think for a second it is."

"Where – where's Nathan?" she questioned softly, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"He brought you into his room and then came and got us and then took off. I don't know where he went, Hales," Lucas said slowly.

She nodded her head and pulled the bed sheet tighter around her body. She didn't know why but she really had hoped Nathan would be there. She felt like she needed to talk to him or at least thank him. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the pillow again.

"Can we get you something Hales?" Jake questioned. "Can we do anything for you?"

"I think I just need to rest," she replied without opening her eyes.

"Okay, you rest," Brooke said softly, pushing a strand of Haley's dark brown hair behind her ear. "We'll be right here, okay? If you need anything."

"I think I just need some time to be alone." She opened her eyes and looked at her friends. They looked hurt and concerned but she knew that with four sets of eyes watching her, she'd never be able to fall asleep. "I promise you, I'll call you if I need anything."

"Okay," Peyton finally agreed. "But we're taking the key and coming to check on you in a few hours."

Haley nodded her head and gave her friend a grateful smile. "Thank you."

After a round of hugs and good-byes, Haley was finally left alone in the room. She pulled her knees to her chest and began to sob. It didn't matter how many times Brooke or anyone else to her it wasn't her fault, she couldn't stop from feeling that it was. She was usually so guarded but she'd wanted to make a point. She'd wanted to show Lucas and Jake that she wasn't a teenager and they didn't need to worry about her anymore. She'd wanted to find a nice guy like Brooke and Peyton had found. She was so wrapped up in proving her point and finding the nice guy that she'd let down her guard. She didn't even want to think about how she'd feel if Nathan hadn't found them and stopped Trenton before he'd taken complete advantage of her.

She had been lying in bed for an hour, willing herself to sleep but she couldn't. Every time she had come close, she'd think of Trenton taking her back to his hotel room and taking off all of her clothes. She felt dirty and used and she hated it. She got out of bed; the sheet still wrapped tightly around her tiny body, and went into the bathroom, turning on the water in the shower.

After standing in the hot water, she felt more relaxed and clean, knowing that the hot water had cleaned any part of her body that Trenton had put his hands on. She got out of the shower and wrapped one of the fluffy white towels around her body. She walked through the room and stood in front of the large window that looked out over the beautiful hotel swimming pool and bar. When she'd first gotten to Mexico, she'd loved everything about the place; the heat, the beaches, the pool, the beautiful palm trees that grew all over the resort. But now, she didn't want to be there. She wasn't sure if Trenton was still on the resort and she didn't want to run into him one day while she was out. She wanted to go home. She wanted to be wrapped up in her bed for the rest of spring break.

She heard the door open behind her and smiled lightly, knowing that her friends wouldn't be able to keep from checking on her for more than an hour or two. She turned around, the smile disappearing from her face as she did. Nathan stood in the middle of the room; dark circles under his eyes, dried blood on the blue button down shirt he'd been wearing the night before.

She pulled the towel tighter around her body and tucked one corner under her arm as she walked across the room to meet him. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to thank him. She shook her head as tears pooled in her eyes. She rested her forehead against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist as she sobbed. His arms instantly wrapped around her, pulling their bodies together. He didn't know what to do for her but hold her. He didn't know if there was anything he could say that would make everything all right.

He held her until she pulled away from him. Her eyes were red and tears still clung to her eyelashes and cheeks. He moved his hands from her hips and gently cupped the sides of her face, rubbing the tears off her face with his thumb.

"Thank you," she said softly. Her hands moved from around his waist up his body, finally resting on his chest. She pushed herself up on her tiptoes and leaned in, kissing him gently on the lips. They broke apart after a few seconds and she smiled. "That was just… thank you."

"Your welcome," he said softly, pulling her tiny body back into his arms.

She smiled weakly as she rested her head against his chest. She'd never felt safer.

**Okay? was the end lame? at first I loved it and now... I'm not sure. It just seems kind of... I don't know. Let me know what you think!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I dedicate this one to the God's of Writers Block. Actually, this chapter was the most difficult for me to write and I have no idea why. I promise that I was actually trying to write during this whole long period but everything was just total and complete crap. I'm not really even sure about the final product but here it is. Alot of DRAMA in this one... maybe that's why it was so hard to do. **

**Anyways, my appologies, again, for the delay in posting and the fact that it's short. I actually dedicate this chapter to all of you who reviewed. I feel awful that I made you wait so long for this chapter after all the great things you left me for the last. Please continue to do so, it makes my day! **

**Hope you enjoy this one! **

**xo.**

* * *

"Hales, wake up," Brooke said softly, rubbing her friends shoulder lightly in an effort to wake the sleeping blonde. "Come on Haley, you have half an hour until your class starts. You're going to be late."

"I'm not going to class, Brooke," Haley replied, not bothering to open her eyes. "I'm just not ready. Not yet."

Despite Haley's protests that Brooke and Lucas stay and enjoy the rest of the trip, they returned to Duke with her the day after the attack. They'd been back from Mexico for almost a week and Haley had hardly gotten out of bed. Both Brooke and Lucas had been worried about her but they had just expected that when classes started up again, so would the old Haley. Brooke was now more worried than ever. Haley was never one to skip a class. Unless she was contagious or dying, she was always sitting in her front row seat, working through the illness.

"Hales…"

"I don't want to talk about it, Brooke," Haley cut in before Brooke could continue on with her sentence.

Haley had only known Brooke that year, but already she knew that her roommates way of dealing with something was to talk about it; picking through every detail until they found a solution. She'd always thought that it was one of the reasons they'd become friends as quickly as they had. She was usually the same way… but not about this. Talking through this one would only bring back the painful memories that she was working so hard to erase.

"Do you want me to stay home today? I don't have to go to class," Brooke offered, shifting her position so she was now sitting on the edge of Haley's bed.

Finally, Haley opened her eyes and looked up at her friend. She loved Brooke for caring so much but she knew that this was something Brooke couldn't help her with. "I really just need to be alone now." A feeling of guilt came over Haley's whole body as Brooke gave her a small smile and stood from the bed, trying hard not to let the tears pooling in her eyes fall.

"Call if you need anything," Brooke whispered as she grabbed her messenger bag and a textbook that had been sitting on the floor by Haley's bedroom door and left the room. A few moments later, Haley heard the front door slam shut and for the first time in nearly a week, she was alone.

* * *

Brooke wrapped her jacket tighter around her small frame as she walked across the quad, on her way to meet Lucas for coffee before their first classes started. Unshed tears clung to her eyelashes. Tears that had appeared as soon as she'd had left the apartment. In the year she'd known Haley, they'd never fought. Not once. If there was something that needed to be worked out, they sat down and worked it out. But the past week was different. She'd tried to talk to Haley about the attack, to work it out, but Haley wouldn't talk about it. She would hardly say anything to Brooke.

"Brooke!"

She couldn't help but smile when she saw her boyfriend, waving at her from their regular table next to the small outdoor coffee cart. The tears she'd been struggling to hold back slowly rolled down her face as she approached him and when she finally reached the small table, she threw herself into Lucas' waiting, concerned arms.

"Babe, what is it? What's wrong?" he questioned, holding her close to his chest. "Is it Haley?"

She pulled away from Lucas; just enough to look into his eyes, and wiped the tears off her face. "She thinks it's my fault Luke," she whispered.

"Brooke, what are you –"

"Haley," Brooke cried as Lucas pulled her back into his embrace. "She won't talk to me about it. She won't say anything to me. She's mad because I introduced her to him." She paused for a minute, resting her forehead against his chest. "I feel so guilty, all the time," she whispered.

He pressed his lips to the top of her head and tightened his embrace around her body. "It's not your fault Brooke," he said lightly. "It wasn't anybodies fault. The guy was a creep and it really sucks that what happened that night had to happen to Haley because she's a great person who didn't deserve it… But there was no way you could have known what was going to happen Brooke."

"But that doesn't change the fact that my roommate, one of my best friends, won't even look at me," Brooke whispered softly, not moving her head from Lucas' chest. She felt calm and safe in his arms, listening to the steady beating of his heart. "I can't do it anymore. She keeps saying she needs time and I gave it to her but now she needs to talk about it. She can't keep it all bottled up. Its unhealthy."

"Did she say that she blamed you for what happened in Mexico?"

"Well, no," Brooke said softly, sniffling.

"Then just give her some more time Brooke. She's got a lot to deal with."

She pulled herself out of his embrace and glared at him lightly. "Do you ever just… agree with the person your dating?"

"Rarely," he replied sarcastically, before wiping the stray tears off her cheeks and slipping his arm around her waist. "Come on, I'll buy you coffee and walk you to your first class."

* * *

She stepped into the small café and scanned the room. _No creepy football-playing attacker. No overprotective best friend and roommate. _She found herself a small, quiet table in the back corner of the room and sat down, pulling her favorite novel out of her messenger bag. She ordered a coffee from the waitress and then settled down in her chair, becoming totally transfixed on the book in her hands. She hadn't planned on leaving her bed that morning, let alone her dorm but after Brooke left, she couldn't take the silence in the room. Without showering or changing her clothes, she grabbed her wallet and her book and left the house.

"You look like crap."

Her breath caught in her throat and her heart felt like it skipped a few beats. "You scared the crap out of me, you ass!" she hissed at him, holding her hand to her chest. She took a few deep breaths in an effort to calm her rapidly beating heart. She didn't know whether it was from the shock or the fact that it was Nathan standing in front of her that was making her unable to do so.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely as he sat down in the seat next to her, letting his arm rest on the back of her chair. "I just… well I got back a couple nights ago and I was trying to talk myself into going to see you but I wasn't sure if that's what you'd want so when I saw you walk in here I figured, 'now or never', right?"

"Nathan –"

"How you holding up, Haley?" he questioned, cutting her off in fear that she was going to tell him that she never wanted to see him again.

She bit her lip nervously and her gaze shifted around the room. She, truthfully, had wanted to talk to him since she'd gotten back to Duke but now that he was right in front of her she wasn't sure she had the nerve to open up and tell him how shaken up she still was over the whole ordeal. "Not so good," she finally answered, giving him a sad, half-hearted smile. "I haven't been able to sleep much because every time I do--"

She trailed off as she thought about Brooke. The guilt she had felt when Brooke had left the room returned to her again. All week, Brooke had been there to talk to her and she had said, over and over that she just wasn't ready to talk about it and now all of the sudden she was ready to open up. To Nathan Scott.

"Sorry, I should just… I shouldn't be telling you about this," she said as she grabbed her purse from the chair on the other side of her and threw her novel into it. "I should go." She stood up and briskly walked out of the café so quickly, Nathan hardly had time to register what was going on.

When he finally did, he stood up and followed her out of the building, chasing her as she walked quickly down the street, back in the direction of her dorm room. "Haley, wait!" he called as he jogged behind her. One of his steps was the equivalent to three of hers and he easily caught up with her. "Haley, please talk to me about this."

"I can't talk to you!" she shouted at him, stopping dead in her tracks and turning to face him. Tears clung to her eyelashes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. "I… I'm not ready for this. I can't even talk to Brooke about this."

"She wasn't there. She didn't see what I saw in that room."

"She's one of my best friends," Haley whispered.

"I know and I'm one of your very _un-_best friends and you think I'm an ass. We established this a long time ago," he replied, reaching out and grabbing her wrist. "But in Mexico, I was there and you… you kissed me."

"That was… that was a thank you," she whispered softly, looking up into his eyes.

"I think it was more than that," he said confidently, reaching out and taking her other hand in his. "There's a part of you that wants to open up to me. A part of you trusts me and wants to be with me. But your scared and I get that because your Lucas' friend and I haven't always been the greatest guy to him, or to anyone for that matter. But after what happened that night in Mexico, I want to change. You made me want to change and I know I can't do it without you. So, please Haley… give me a chance. Just talk to me."

She'd never had anyone read her as well as Nathan had over the past few days. For the most part, Lucas and Jake had been able to tell when something wasn't right but they'd never been able to know exactly how she was feeling like Nathan just had. It scared her. Once again, she had let down the guard she'd worked so hard on building up. She never used to do that. She'd never been that careless before.

He was right. She wanted to tell him all of her fears and she wanted to talk to him about the attack but she was scared because, for an entire year, Nathan was an ass. To her and to Lucas. For an entire year, he had been bad guy and she was scared that if she believed he'd actually changed, she would once again be left hurt and disappointed. She couldn't handle that.

"I'm sorry," she said softly, taking her hands away from his. "I can't."

She turned her back to him and walked away, tears running down her face, hoping that this time, he wasn't following. She didn't want him to see her cry again.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: well, 2 weeks later and i finally have something for all you great people. sorry about the wait. I literally have 13 different drafts of this... usually i got 2 or three paragraphs in and it sucked so bad I couldn't keep writing. But, I was really sick today so instead of going to school i sat at my computer and battled through it and I'm pretty happy with what came out. **

**Thanks to everyone for the reviews. they really mean alot. **

**ENJOY THE CHAPTER**

The loud blast of the coaches whistle echoed off the walls of the gym, signaling the end of the long, grueling, first practice back since Spring Break. Struggling to take full, deep breaths, the players jogged to the sidelines, taking their seats and immediately began reaching for their water bottles. Nathan rested his elbows on his knees and his head in the palms of his hands. He was exhausted. Not only had practice taken its toil on him, he hadn't had a decent nights sleep since Mexico. Lucas, panting heavily, quickly drank half of his water and gripped his side, praying that the uncomfortable cramping feeling would disappear. 

Coach K was taller than everyone on the team, which automatically made him a force to be reckoned with on and off the court. No one, especially his players, wanted to be the one that he was pissed at. Silence fell over the room as he paced the floor in front of the bleachers, laughing to himself for a reason no one knew. Finally, after the team seemed to have caught their breath, he stopped in front of them, still chuckling lightly to himself and clapped his hands slowly, making the point obvious that he wasn't impressed

"So, did you morons drink _all_ of the tequila in Mexico, or just most of it?" he questioned sarcastically, his deep voice echoing off the walls of the gym, making it seem twice as loud as it was. His face turned red and Lucas could swear his saw a vein bulging from his neck, threatening to explode. He ran one hand through his blonde hair, clearly frustrated and threw the clipboard he was holding in the other roughly on the floor. "You're gone for a week and a half – nine days – and the few of you that don't come back out of shape and hung over are too damn distracted to be of any use to me!" 

Nathan glanced up, feeling his coach's gaze burning holes in the top of his head. He nodded, silently acknowledging the fact that he needed to pick up his game before playoffs started. 

Again, there was silence as each exhausted player hung their head low, feeling the shame of disappointing Coach K. The tension in the air was thick, far to thick and uncomfortable for the cheerleaders who were standing awkwardly in the corner near by. When the captain suggested they sneak away quietly, none of the girls objected. 

"After today's practice, I bet our cheerleaders could give you idiots a run for your money," Coach K continued, glancing over his shoulder to give the girls a quick glare which made everyone of them feel uncomfortable. Within seconds they had crossed the gym floor to the girls change room and the boys were left alone in the silent gym. "Conditioning practice. Tomorrow, five AM sharp. Now, hit the showers! You guys stink!" Coach K boomed before turning and walking away towards his office. 

A synchronized groan came from the group as they thought about the early Sunday morning practice. After gathering their gym bags and water bottles, the team slowly walked across the gym to their dressing room, longing for the hot water of the shower to ease their aching muscles. Nathan however, didn't move from his spot on the bleachers. 

Roughly running his hands through his hair, he looked around at the empty gym and let out an exhausted sigh. For as long as he could remember, an empty gym has been his safe haven. In high school when his mom and dad were constantly fighting at home, he would sneak out into the middle of the night and go to his schools gym. He'd shoot free throws or run suicides until he couldn't move anymore which sometimes wasn't until two or three in the morning. His muscles would burn and he'd be exhausted the next day at school, but for those few hours, he'd forget about the problem at hand. 

Looking out across the gym, he found no answers to his questions. No resolutions to his problems. For the first time in his life, he couldn't fix this by distracting himself with basketball. This was bigger than that. Resting his head in his hands once again, he let out a frustrated sigh and then sat in stillness, trying to figure out what to do next.

"You gonna sit out here all afternoon?" 

Nathan jumped, startled by the voice that cut through the silence of the empty gym. He wasn't expecting anyone to interrupt his thinking, but he smiled gratefully when he saw Brooke standing in front of him. He patted the spot next to him and, for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, ran his hands through his dark brown hair as he waited for her to sit next to him.

"What are you still doing here?" he questioned, focusing his gaze on the hardwood of the basketball court. 

"Waiting for Lucas," she replied simply. "You?"

Silently he shifted his gaze to look at her. Shrugging his shoulders lightly, he gave her a small smile. "Just… thinking."

Without questioning him, Brooke knew that he was thinking about Haley. It seemed to be all anyone who knew her could think about these days. She gently placed her hand on his back and rested her head on his shoulder. 

"How is she?" he questioned.

Brooke sighed and shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know," she answered as her eyes filled with tears. She took her head off of his shoulder and pulled her arm away from his back, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "She won't talk to me. Actually, she won't talk to anyone. I'm really worried about her Nathan. And I'm really worried about our friendship. Haley and me can talk about everything but this… she won't say a word to me about it. I think she's mad at me for introducing her to that creep."

This time, Nathan reached out and wrapped his arm around Brooke's shoulders, pulling her close to his side. "It wasn't your fault, Brooke."

Brooke scoffed. "That's what Lucas said." She smiled shyly and glanced at Nathan. "You two are more alike than you think. You would probably be best friends if you just worked through this whole long-lost-brother thing."

"It's not that easy, Brooke," Nathan replied. "If it was, I'm sure we would be friends but to much has happened over the last few years and I know that I can't take a lot of that back. Trust me, I wish I could." He thought about Haley as he spoke and how different their relationship would be if Nathan hadn't treated Lucas the way he had for the last year. Glancing down at his old friend, he gave her a weak smile. "It wasn't your fault and you can't keep beating yourself up over this. You're a good person, Brooke Davis."

"Yeah, you too," she replied quietly. Picking up her purse from beside her, she started digging until she found a pen and a small sketch book that she always kept on her incase she ever was hit with inspiration for a new piece for her clothing line. Confused, Nathan watched as she scribbled down an address onto the piece of paper and then tore it out, dropping it in his lap. 

Standing up, she smiled weakly at him once more. "You're a good guy, Nathan, and I know it's killing you to not see her. So stop by… anytime." She reached out and took one of his hands, giving it a gentle squeeze before walking towards the main doors of the gym, going to meet Lucas. 

Nathan stared at the piece of paper in his hands. It amazed him how not even ten minutes ago, the empty gym provided him with no answers and now, the answer to his problem was sitting in his lap in the form of a piece of white paper. After gathering his few things, he rushed into the locker room and headed straight to the showers. He had someplace to be and he wanted to get there as soon as possible. 

-OTH-

Lucas knocked lightly on Haley's bedroom door before opening it and letting himself in. As he'd come to expect, she was propped up in bed with a remote in her hand and all of the _Friends_ box sets stacked on her night table. She didn't acknowledge him as he walked into the room. She didn't even take her eyes off the TV in front of her. 

"Hales," he said softly as he sat down on the corner of her bed. She shifted slightly, only because Lucas' shoulder was blocking her view of the TV. "Brooke and I were going to go for supper… do you maybe want to come with us?"

"Not tonight," she answered flatly, her eyes till fixed on the television set in front of her. "I'm just… I'm not ready yet."

"Its been almost three weeks Haley!" Lucas said loudly, his words sounding harsher than he'd meant them too. He instantly regretted saying anything as she glanced away from the TV and glared at him. No look from her was better than that look. "All I'm saying is we're all worried about you. Brooke, Peyton… me and Jake. We all just want you to be back to normal."

"Well you know what Lucas I don't think that's ever going to happen. I hate even walking out of this room because every time I see a guy; its him and every time someone bumps into me; I feel his hands touching me. I can't do that Luke. I'm not… I'm not strong enough to cope with that." Uncontrolled sobs took over her body and although she'd been yelling at him minutes before, she quickly melted into his tight embrace, feeling safer but not totally secure. 

"Maybe you need to talk about this with someone," he suggested as he held her tighter. "Maybe getting it all out in the open would help you."

Pulling away from him she glared at him again. "You want me to see a shrink?" she questioned. "I'm not crazy, Lucas. I'm just… I'm just upset."

"I know your not crazy, Hales. I didn't necessarily mean a shrink. Talk to anyone. To me, or Brooke, or Jake, or Peyton. We're all here for you, you know that right?" She nodded silently as she wiped away the stray tears on her face with the back of her hand. "What ever you need, we're here for you."

He wrapped his arms around her again, half expecting her to pull away, but was pleasantly surprised when she didn't. Giving her a comforting kiss on the top of the head he pulled away and wiped the few tears she'd missed away with his thumb. "You sure you don't want to come with us? Or, we could stay home and order in?"

Haley gave him a weak smile and fell back into her bed, propping herself up against her pillows again. "Not tonight. You guys go and have fun." He eyed her carefully, waiting for any sign of hesitation but when he found none, he gave her one more quick, friendly kiss on the temple and left her room. 

-OTH- 

Tiptoeing, she quietly made her way through the dark apartment. Brooke was still out with Lucas, so it wasn't like there was anyone to wake, but she still moved silently through the living room, towards the kitchen. She found that she moved a lot more quietly since Mexico; like if she was silent, nothing bad could find her again. 

She squinted as she opened the freezer door, her eyes struggling to readjust to the light, but once they did, she happily pulled out the container of ice cream and grabbed a spoon from the cabinet. Walking back into the living room, she plopped down on the bright red sofa and turned on the TV, lazily flipping through the channels until she heard a quiet knock on the door. So quiet, she was positive it would have gone unheard if she had been in her bedroom. 

She set the ice cream down on the table and sighed. _Brooke probably forgot her key_, she thought as she moved quietly through the house towards the front door. Without even thinking to look through the peephole, she opened the front door. Expecting to see her roommate standing in the hall, she lost her breath for a moment when she realized it defiantly wasn't Brooke. 

"Nathan, what are you doing here?"

"I know you don't want to talk to me but I need to talk to you, Haley."


End file.
